đź”’ Cybersecurity for lawyers

User Tools

Site Tools

Trace:
threat_modelling

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
Next revisionBoth sides next revision
threat_modelling [2019/08/06 17:37] – neilthreat_modelling [2019/08/09 11:29] – neil
Line 10: Line 10:
 You’ll sometimes see this described as “threat modelling” or understanding your "risk scenario". You’ll sometimes see this described as “threat modelling” or understanding your "risk scenario".
  
-====Why do you care?====+====Key points ==== 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#What are trying to protect?|What are trying to protect?]] 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#Create an information asset register|Create an information asset register]] 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#Who is your threat?|Who is your threat?]] 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#How are you vulnerable?|How are you vulnerable?]] 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#Prioritise your response|Prioritise your response]] 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#Write it down|Write it down]] 
 +  * [[threat_modelling#Make this a regular thing|Make this a regular thing]] 
 + 
 +====What are trying to protect?====
 The reason you do this is that, without knowing the threats against which you’re trying to protect, you don’t know what mitigations you need to have in place. And, since you probably can’t do everything at once, you’ll need to understand what are the greatest threats you face, and so which are deserving of the greatest attention, and what measures are “nice to haves”, which could be done at some point in the future. The reason you do this is that, without knowing the threats against which you’re trying to protect, you don’t know what mitigations you need to have in place. And, since you probably can’t do everything at once, you’ll need to understand what are the greatest threats you face, and so which are deserving of the greatest attention, and what measures are “nice to haves”, which could be done at some point in the future.
  
Line 28: Line 37:
  
 Or are you just generally concerned about holding up the confidentiality of your clients’ matters, and ensuring that clients can communicate with you in a reasonably secure manner, to take advantage of their right to seek independent, expert legal advice? Threats might be more casual — someone reading over your shoulder on a train, for example, or listening in on a phone call you are having in a public place. Or are you just generally concerned about holding up the confidentiality of your clients’ matters, and ensuring that clients can communicate with you in a reasonably secure manner, to take advantage of their right to seek independent, expert legal advice? Threats might be more casual — someone reading over your shoulder on a train, for example, or listening in on a phone call you are having in a public place.
 +
 +====Create an information asset register ====
 +
 +In a spreadsheet, list every device and service you have which stores data — computers, phones, external hard drives, USB keys, servers, online services, and potentially even printers and scanners.
 +
 +Against each device and service:
 +  * identify what data might be stored on it
 +  * state who is permitted to access it
 +  * describe the risks that it might face (for example, that you might lose your computer, leading to someone else getting access to the data on it, and you being unable to work on client files because the only copy is on the computer)
 +  * describe the security measures currently in place to protect against those risks
 +  * if relevant, state who is responsible for keeping it updated and ensuring it is wiped or destroyed properly at the end of its life
 +
 +Keep this up to date, amending it as you add and remove devices from your firm.
 +
  
 ====Who is your threat?==== ====Who is your threat?====
Line 39: Line 62:
 Once you’ve identified why you might be of interest, and who you might be defending against, the next step is to identify how you might be vulnerable.  Once you’ve identified why you might be of interest, and who you might be defending against, the next step is to identify how you might be vulnerable. 
  
-Other pages discuss different areas in which a lawyer or a law firm might be open to attack, and give some examples of mitigations and defences.+You might find the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity's [[https://etl.enisa.europa.eu/#/|threat report]] to be useful in identifying key threats.
  
-When you’ve got a list of risks and potential mitigations, you can then prioritise and start to implement. +====Prioritise your response====
- +
-====Prioritising your response====+
  
 Chances are, you'll have quite a few risks on your list, so you'll want to prioritise your approach to tackling them. Chances are, you'll have quite a few risks on your list, so you'll want to prioritise your approach to tackling them.
Line 52: Line 73:
  
  
-====Writing it down====+====Write it down====
 You might find it useful to [[documenting_policies_and_processes|write this down]], so that you have a register of threats and risks, with reasons why you have included, or excluded certain things.  You might find it useful to [[documenting_policies_and_processes|write this down]], so that you have a register of threats and risks, with reasons why you have included, or excluded certain things. 
  
-====Repeating this exercise==== +====Make this a regular thing==== 
-You probably want to make this appraisal a regular exercise — perhaps yearly, or even more frequently. +You probably want to make this appraisal a regular exercise — perhaps yearly, or even more frequently, depending on the likelihood of a risk arising, and the severity of the impact if it did. 
  
 If you think you fall into a higher risk category, it is probably something you’ll want to do even more often than that. If you think you fall into a higher risk category, it is probably something you’ll want to do even more often than that.
 +
 +If you have a compliance calendar, to help you meet your numerous regulatory obligations, make perhaps a quarterly or half-yearly action to review your risk categorisation, and your security measures.
threat_modelling.txt · Last modified: 2021/10/15 10:25 by neil